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11.5: Long < i > and the VCC Pattern

Long and the VCC Pattern

1. You have seen that one VCC pattern that regularly has a long vowel in front of it is the VCle pattern: bible, bridle, rifle. A similar but not so common case is the VCrV pattern. Find the letter that is spelling [ī] in the words below, mark it ‘v’, and then mark the next two letters after it either ‘v’ or ‘c’:

2. But long occurs in several other VCC patterns, too. Some of the following words have long ; some have short . Mark the letter that is spelling [ī] or [i] in each ‘v’ and then mark the next two letters either ‘v’ or ‘c’:

3. Sort the thirty words into these two groups:

4. Sort the words with long into the following seven groups:

5. Four of these combinations contain one or more silent consonant letters. List the four below:

6. These special cases of long in VCC patterns are due to changes that occurred in our language hundreds of years ago. There is little we can do except to try to remember them. Fortunately, only a few words contain them, not many more than in the list above.